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Re: [OM] [OT] Ergot - was Rangefinder cameras

Subject: Re: [OM] [OT] Ergot - was Rangefinder cameras
From: Andy Beals <bandy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 14:02:09 -0800
On Wed, 24 Jan 2001 08:46:39 +1100, Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
wrote:
> Mad Cow (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) caused by a prion - a contagious
> 'organism' even smaller than a virus.

And even less of an organism than a virus is.  It's a little piece of protein 
folded in a weird way.  Somehow it gets other protein to fold in the same way. 
 Think of it as a Lego brick creation that, when you throw it in your parts 
bin, or place it next to a creation, causes copies of itself to be built.  
Better yet, it's tougher than the average protein, requiring a temperature 
better than 1500 degrees to "kill" [denature] it.

The basic mechanism may have been around for a long time, but it never got 
reinforced. . . .until the farmers started feeding their cattle "protein" 
enriched feed.  Made from otherwise unsalable parts of dead cows.  More beef, 
faster to market.  Yum yum.  This took the inconsequential pool of 
naturally-occuring prions and put them back into the cows.  The prions slowly 
begat more prions ... which were then fed to other cows ... who made more 
prions ... Is it time to re-read/watch The Andromeda Strain?

> I believe there was a form in the
> Pacific and/or New Guinea endemic among folk in the habit of eating their
> dead enemies, especially their brain, so that they could 'absorb' their
> more admirable qualities.

Kuru.  It was the women and children who would get it as they got the brains 
[lesser-preferred parts] while the men would get the muscle meat.  This 
re-inforced the prion by recycling it to the point where those succumbing 
would get younger and younger...

> Ergot was a bit unfunny too because the terrified riots led to deaths by
> violence, in fires and by people interpreting it as God's wrath on the
> unrighteous or the work of witches.

By the way, ergot is rye blight, not wheat blight.  Ergotamine is also used to 
treat migraine headaches.  It works OK, but it is bound with waaay too much 
caffeine for me to be able to take it and function.

> Aren't people wonderful?
> Andrew

Absolutely!

> >Isn't it the precursor to mad cow disease????.  Actually, not that funny.  A
> >dear friend of mine recently succumbed to what CDC 'believes' was mad cow.

Crutzfeld-Jacob Disease [CJD], likely.   "Mad cow" in people.  "Scrapie" in 
sheep.  Pigs aren't allowed to live long enough to show signs of having the 
problem, if they do have it.  And how about farmed fish?

By the way, did you know that there has been shown cow to calf transmission?  
The researchers believe the prions show up in the milk.

And there was the life-long vegetarian in the UK who got it ... they're 
guessing it came from the "bone" meal applied his veggies.

> >Scary stuff.

10-4 Eleanor!

> >Jim
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Andrew Fildes [mailto:afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> >Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 1:15 PM
> >To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: [OM] Re: [OT] Ergot - was Rangefinder cameras
> >
> >
> >>Go on then Ian... what is "ergot"?
> >>
> >>Chris
> >
> >It's a fungal blight of wheat which contains a hallucinogen similar to LSD.
> >It was blamed for some unusual occurences of mass panic and hysteria in
> >medieval times when whole villages ate bread made from batches of affected
> >grain. A derivative, ergometrin (?), is still used as a obstetric drug, I
> >think (have to check with my wife - she's the midwife).
> >In recent times, it may be implicated in highly localised examples of
> >strange behaviour, like the deranged compulsion to collect small pieces of
> >metal encased glass of various types...
> >Andrew



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